adventure

The wildlife haven in North East India, the Kaziranga National Park is one of the most popular places for jungle safaris in India. Spread over the foothills of the Himalayas besides the Brahmaputra River, the national park is one of the enriched biodiverse habitats. The wildlife sanctuary is most popularly home to one-horned rhinoceros, in fact one-third of the entire population of the species of the world.

The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) authorities in Assam have introduced boating, cycling and trekking tours in the fringe area of the park for the first time in its history.

Earlier, the park could be explored only via jeep safaris and elephant rides — this is the first time boats, bicycles and trekking have been introduced.

Wildlife tourism is a very important part of the Indian tourism. And, this World Tourism Day 2025, the incredible range of travel experiences needs to be explored with wildlife tour packages in India. And I would guess rightly so, given the fact that, after Africa, India perhaps has the most species of endangered wildlife that one could see in the wild. The star attraction of India's National parks is, of course, the Royal Bengal tiger, and this majestic animal is certainly the main draw for the wildlife tourism in India.

India now has almost 40 notified tiger reserves spread across the country, from Kaziranga and Manas in the east to Tadoba in the west, from Corbett in the north to Periyar and Bandipur in the south. Even the offbeat Sundarbans to the popular wildlife sanctuaries of Bandhavgarh National Park, Ranthambore, Pench  The big plus point of having so many Tiger reserves is that one can combine and include the nearest one into an India itinerary easily and even those not coming for a wildlife only focused trip, can easily fit in a few days at one India's many National parks.

Having been in the industry for almost 30 years now, I've been lucky to have had a chance to visit quite a few of the Tiger reserves, as well as interact with several wildlife enthusiasts from across the world. The general consensus is that the Tiger is definitely the most regal and majestic of all mammals, and irrespective of how many times one has seen a Tiger, the thrill of spotting a Tiger in the wild, remains and does not diminish with repeated sightings. After a recent trip to Africa, where we saw lions in the wild, I was actually wondering as to whether the Lion actually deserves its title of "King of the Jungle", in my view, and plenty of people actually agreed with me on this, that, the Tiger actually has a larger presence, and greater karishma.

The Indian wildlife safari experience is actually very different from the African safari experience, and it is extremely important for travelers to understand this fact. Africa has an abundance of wildlife, so a tourist traveling to lets say, Kruger, is sort of guaranteed sightings of all the big 5, perhaps within the first few hours of entering the reserve, whereas, even in Bandhavgarh, the National Park with a good Tiger population, it is possible to have done half a dozen safaris and still not having sighted the Tiger !! 

Not just the tigers, Indian wildlife tourism also covers sighting of Asiatic Lions, One-horned Rhincoeros, colorful birds including migratpry species, gharials and many other rare species.

In the last couple of months, there had been a lot of uncertainty regarding the opening of the National Parks in the Covid-19 Global Pandemic, which was subject to the decision f the Indian Supreme Court. Fortunately, the Courts did allow the Parks to open, and it is now backing to business as usual. As a consequence of this, there have been some changes in the rules and regulations. The number of vehicles allowed into the Parks has been further curtailed, thereby making advance reservations all the more important, and also, the Central Indian reserves of Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench are now completely closed every Wednesday.

One of the other positives in recent times has been the opening of several wildlife resorts  and boutique lodges in the vicinity of the National Parks. Unlike Africa, even the luxury lodges are not situated within the forests, but are outside, but, there are now a few jungle lodges in India, that are at par with the finest in the world. In addition to the Taj safari lodges in Pench, Kanha, and Bandhavgarh, others that stand out are, the Samode safari lodge in Bandhavgarh, Singinawa, Flame of the Forest and Shergarh in Kanha, Forsyth’s Lodge in Satpura, and there is, of course, the Sherbagh tented camp in Ranthambhore. 

Just a 75-minute flight north of Delhi lies the region of Ladakh, India’s rooftop and a stark frozen desert. Technically a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, but the Ladakh region is far removed from anything Kashmiri, be it the topography, the culture, the way of life, the religious beliefs, and even the security issues that have haunted Kashmir for several years now. Ladakh is and has been an entirely safe area to travel too for all the years I can remember, with its wonderful peace-loving Buddhist residents. 

For years we’d thought of going to Ladakh, but for some reason or the other we’d been postponing it, but I’m glad we finally bit the bullet the summer. Ladakh exceeded our expectations several times over, and rates highly in our very own list of beautiful places to see in the world.
 

Leh, the capital of the Ladakh region, and also the city with the region's only commercial airport, is a picturesque little town. The monasteries, monks and Buddhist way of life are very much visible everywhere as also the Tibetan influences. For years Leh lacked good modern hotels, but fortunately, those days are over now, with good quality modern hotels like the Grand Dragon and the Indus Valley being there. 

Leh and it’s surrounding areas have plenty to see and do, the Thiksey monastery, the Hall of Fame museum, the Shanti Stupa, the Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, etc. and the two days spent there, partly acclimatizing to the thin air with the low oxygen levels were well worth it. The local bazaar with its colorful small shops, Tibetan and Ladakhi food restaurants, all very interesting and very different from anything seen in the rest of India. Other interesting and worth visiting sites we visited were the Sangam, where the Indus and the Zanskar rivers meet, and the Magnetic Hill, where vehicles seem to be magically rolling upwards defying gravity. 
 

Our next stop was the Nubra Valley, with its stark desert landscape, about a 4-hour drive west of Leh. The drive from Leh to the Nubra Valley area took us through snow-capped mountains, with the Khardung La Pass, one of the highest motorable passes in the world, certainly being the highlight of the drive. 
 
The Nubra Valley area has plenty of accommodation to suit all budgets, but for those not on a budget, the ultimate place to stay is, of course, the Ultimate Traveling Camp’s Chamba Camp. I’d have to say that the two days we spent at the Chamba camp were perhaps the best part of the trip. From the minute you arrive till the minute you depart, the service standards and the hospitality that you experience are a world apart. Luxurious tented accommodation, friendly smiling staff, gourmet cuisine, TUTC has really set the standards as far as glamping in India is concerned.

In the Nubra Valley area, there’s plenty to see and do ( provided of course that you can bring yourself to leave the luxurious surroundings of the camp ) with the Diskit Monastery just down the road , the Hunder sand dunes ( where we rode the two-humped camels ) and the remote village of Turtuk ( with a small museum run by the erstwhile Balti rulers of the area ), the village of Chang (the last village in India ) where a soldier from the Indian Army happily pointed out both, the Indian and the Pakistani border outposts to us, all this being within easy access of the Chamba camp.

Post two wonderful, relaxing, though adventurous days at the TUTC’s Chamba camp, our next stop was the Pangong Lake, at an altitude of over 4000 meters above sea level , this lake is huge , as in 134 kilometers long and about 5 kilometers wide at this widest point and extends from India to the Tibetan part of China. Words cannot describe the beautiful lake and its surrounds, truly magical in every way and certainly worth the long drive.

 
With that, it was time to bid goodbye to Ladakh, a trip that we’ll remember for long, and a destination we’d like to return to, sooner rather than later.